UH to pay $9,500 for private jet for McConaughey

Published 12:13 pm, Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Matthew McConaughey presents the award for best actress in a leading role at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Matthew McConaughey presents the award for best actress in a leading role at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Photo: John Shearer

UH to pay $9,500 for private jet for McConaughey

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The University of Houston, which is paying a famous Longhorn six figures to deliver this week's commencement speech to thousands of Cougars, also will charter a private jet to fly actor Matthew McConaughey to town, newly disclosed details of the contract reveal.

UH will pay $9,500 for the jet for McConaughey, who will deliver the school's first universitywide commencement speech at the new TDECU stadium Friday. That's about the amount, on average, that low-income students pay for a year at UH, according to federal data.

The cost is on top of the $135,000 UH is paying McConaughey, who will donate $130,000 of the fee to his Just Keep Livin Foundation, according to the full contract for the speaking engagement. The remaining $5,000 is considered an "expenses buyout" in the contract and will cover any additional costs, such as "meals, incidentals, groomer."

Public records request

The new details round out a picture of what the university is doing to lure the Academy Award-winning actor. Details remained obscured for several weeks while a booking agency sought to keep the contract information from the public.

When asked in February how much it had to spend to bring in the well-known Longhorn, UH balked, citing a rare confidentiality clause in its agreement with the booking agency it hired to find a celebrity speaker. The school had to give the agency, Celebrity Talent International, a chance to resist disclosure.

Celebrity Talent - which received a $20,250 check from the public school for its services in hooking McConaughey - filed a brief opposing a public records request submitted by the Houston Chronicle. The attorney general last week ruled against the agency.

Under the newly released contract, UH is also on the hook for one nonsmoking "VIP Presidential" hotel suite with a king-size bed and up to two nonsmoking "deluxe" hotel rooms with king-size beds. A UH spokesman said Monday the school doesn't yet know if the actor will need the hotel rooms, as he may fly out after the speech.

UH also will provide ground transportation from the airport to the stadium.

Though he's famously an Austin resident, McConaughey is flying into Houston from New Orleans, where he is filming his next movie.

The university also has released information on its payment schedule to McConaughey, which shows the school first paid the actor $40,000 last July. UH paid him $45,000 in December and another $45,000 in January.

UH is covering the costs with revenue generated by its continuing education program, which offers certificate programs, online courses, workshops and more to non-UH students.

'Top of his field'

UH said McConaughey is worth the price tag. The actor was selected by a "diverse committee of students, faculty and staff representatives" and approved by the administration, the school said in a statement. McConaughey's philanthropic work through his foundation, which sets up fitness and wellness programs in public schools, is aligned with the university's mission, the statement said.

''Our ability to acquire a speaker whose success places him at the top of his field provides inspiration to our graduates, increases the university's prestige and provides a memorable Tier One experience for all who attend," the school said in a statement.

McConaughey will speak to a capacity crowd at TDECU stadium at 7 p.m. Friday at a ceremony for 4,958 students graduating this May. More than half of those graduates are women and the Class of 2015 ranges in age from 18 to 78.